More than $3 million in grant funding will be distributed between 16 regional organizations across Michigan to help improve educational programs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Read the full story
In his annual year-end report, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court John Roberts, Jr., focused on civics education, calling for increased confidence in and education about the judicial system.
Read the full story
An elementary school in California has seen improvements among students for the first time in more than 10 years — something that was unthinkable just last year.
Read the full story
The 2020 elections will afford us the chance to pass judgment on the immediate threat to our democracy posed by the intelligence agencies, the Democratic party, and the media in their grab for power through a bastardized impeachment process. But no such opportunity exists for us to deal with the most serious, most fundamental threat to our way of life, namely our thoroughly rotten educational establishment.
The problem has been festering for decades, and keeps getting worse.
Read the full story
A high school teacher in Jacksonville, Florida, faced criticism and disciplinary action because a transgender student asked him to refer to the student by female pronouns, although the student was born male. The teacher refused.
Read the full story
by Kerry MacDonald Childhood exuberance is now a liability. Behaviors that were once accepted as normal, even if mildly irritating to adults, are increasingly viewed as unacceptable and cause for medical intervention. High energy, lack of impulse control, inability to sit still and listen, lack of organizational skills, fidgeting, talking incessantly—these typical childhood qualities were widely tolerated until relatively recently. Today, children with these characteristics are being diagnosed with, and often medicated for, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at an astonishing rate. Early Schooling Contributes To Increased Diagnoses While ADHD may be a real and debilitating ailment for some, the startling upsurge in school-age children being labeled with and medicated for this disorder suggests that something else could be to blame. More research points to schooling, particularly early schooling, as a primary culprit in the ADHD diagnosis epidemic. Over the last several decades, young people are spending more time in school and school-like activities than ever before. They are playing less and expected to do more at very young ages. When many of us were kids, kindergarten was mellow, playful, and short with few academic expectations. Now, 80 percent of teachers expect children to learn to read in kindergarten. It’s not the teachers’ fault. They are responding to…
Read the full story
by Faiza Elmasry As recently as a half-century ago, young American students would spend many lessons writing curved loops and diagonal lines, as they learned how to write in cursive. Over the years, though, computer keyboards and voice to text programs have replaced pens and pencils, and made handwriting – especially cursive – less relevant. But it hasn’t disappeared. St. Luke Catholic School in McLean, Virginia, still teaches cursive. Several times a week, students work on their handwriting skills, clutching their pencils and pens as they practice forming neat loops and curls. Teacher Grace O’Connor says eventually, all of them will have a style all their own. “The great thing about cursive is everyone has his own little spin to it, like, you know how to form your letters, but as you get older you, kind of, develop your own flow to your cursive writing, and it’s yours,” she says. “You can take ownership of it, which is really great.” Cursive engages multiple senses Cursive handwriting is emerging as a learning tool for students with dyslexia, a disorder that makes it difficult to read or interpret letters, words and other symbols. Thirteen-year-old Joseph was diagnosed with dyslexia four years ago,…
Read the full story
The taxpayer-funded Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) had $5.3 million in assets at the end of 2017 and paid its top two executives $499,000 annually in 2016, according to audited financial statements and IRS Form 990 reports. The TSBA filed those reports, which The Tennessee Star obtained copies of this week. Tennessee taxpayers contributed more than 85 percent, slightly more than $2 million, of the TSBA’s $2.3 million revenues in 2016 through Local Education Agencies (LEA- the formal name for public school districts in Tennessee) dues and no bid contracts. The no bid contracts were a gift to the TSBA, which was organized way back in 1939, provided by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1990. “In 1990, the Tennessee Legislature mandated that school board members attend one full-day training session each year. The State Board of Education authorized the Tennessee Department of Education to plan and implement the program. The Department of Education contracts with TSBA to conduct all of the training. TSBA also conducts a variety of meetings, workshops and seminars throughout the year to inform board members and administrators about key issues and topics affecting public education, ” according to the TSBA website. Taxpayer funding to TSBA came in at…
Read the full story
by Annie Holmquist By now, many parents know there is something seriously wrong with the average American school. Time and again, children go into the school system as bright bundles of energy, curious about the surrounding world, and time and again, they stagger through the system frustrated and losing their interest in learning. Unfortunately, parents have firsthand knowledge of what former New York teacher John Taylor Gatto explained in his book, Weapons of Mass Instruction: “After a long life, and thirty years in the public school trenches, I’ve concluded that genius is as common as dirt. We suppress genius because we haven’t yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women. The solution, I think, is simple and glorious. Let them manage themselves.” That’s easy enough to say, but is it actually possible to do? A video from Reason suggests that it is possible, and in fact, is actually being done quite effectively. Host John Stossel travels to the Academy of Thought and Industry (ATI) to explore a school filled with kids who would likely be considered dysfunctional and troublemakers in the normal education system. Instead, Stossel finds a group of thriving young adults, thinking intelligently and actively entering the real…
Read the full story
On February 13th, the Citizens for Community Values will join with a group of concerned parents to hold a press conference, imploring the Ohio legislature to expand access to EDChoice Scholarships. Since 2005, EdChoice scholarships have existed been a statewide initiative that gives students the opportunity to receive scholarships to attend private schools, should their local public school perform poorly. The Ohio Department of Education rates each school and district on six components then assigns an overall grade. Overall, Toledo public high schools currently have an “F.” In four of six categories; Achievement, Gap Closing, Graduation Rate, and Prepared for Success, Toledo also has an F. In the remaining 2; Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers and Progress, the district received a “D.” Many local parents have reservations in sending their children to these schools. The concerned parents organizing the press conference all have children who attend private schools local to Toledo, many of which will be entering high school soon. Due to a provision within the law, these private school students, who are not currently receiving scholarships, are ineligible to receive these funds for high school. Therefore, they would have no choice to attend the local public schools or try to pay out-of-pocket, which is an unrealistic expense…
Read the full story
After a staggering number of Ohio public schools failed to make the grade, the state’s voucher and charter school system is poised for tremendous expansion. In Ohio, if the public school test scores of a student’s home district fall below a certain level, calculated by the Ohio Department of Education, a number of the students are automatically granted vouchers to attend private school and charter schools are permitted to establish themselves. This is intended to both give children from every country access to quality schools and alleviate the student burden on the lagging school. The public schools performed so poorly that charter schools will have 600 times more areas to expand into, and student access to vouchers will more than double. Teacher unions and many in the progressive activist community have aggressively opposed both school voucher programs and charter schools. They argue that these programs siphon off funding from the already financially strained school system. In addition, a number of private schools in Ohio were founded as religious institutions. While none can legally force children to engage in religious activity against their will, progressives maintain that as they are still religiously-oriented, it is a violation of the ‘separation church and state.’ Ironically, it was an…
Read the full story
by Brad Johnson In the fall of 2012, I excitedly began my senior year government class. I was about to sit through a course on our system of government while also watching it play out right before my eyes on its biggest stage during the 2012 election. Much to my chagrin, nobody else seemed even remotely as thrilled. Throughout the next five months, blank stares and snores engulfed the classroom with unmistakable indifference. In those moments, it hit me just how far we had fallen. Recently, I was struck by a similar feeling. I came across yet another condemnation of our system of representative government on Twitter. Waleed Shahid, a former advisor to New York Congressional Candidate and Democratic Socialist heartthrob Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said the Senate is not democratic enough because less populous states receive the same representation as high-population states. But this is the very point of the Senate. Without equal representation in one house of Congress, large states would be able to run roughshod over smaller states. Yet this fact is continually ignored by civically-illiterate citizens eager to support their points of frustration against Trump’s agenda. And Shahid wasn’t alone in his sentiment about the Electoral College. Hordes of…
Read the full story
Professional Educators of Tennessee (ProED Tennessee) recently surveyed over 1400 Tennessee educators about school safety and potential ways to improve security at our schools. The statewide survey questions (conducted February 27-March 12) are available here. While an overwhelming number of respondents, 88%, felt either safe or somewhat safe at their schools, there are some concerns about whether policies and procedures are actually being followed at all schools. 75% of those surveyed indicated that there has been a recent increase in security procedures and awareness. However, only 62% say their school has an “active shooter” protocol in place. Perhaps more concerning is the fact that only 55% report that their School Resource Officer (SRO) carries a side-arm. Apparently, a huge percentage of Tennessee schools are protected only by security “monitors” rather than someone who can respond effectively and immediately in the event of a threat to the school. When it comes to arming teachers, which is a significant point of contention among policy makers, 53% of Tennessee educators responding to the survey indicated that they personally would be unlikely to carry a firearm if it was allowed. However, 63% felt that properly trained personnel should be allowed to carry a weapon at…
Read the full story
An Oklahoma school board voted unanimously Monday to rename three Confederate schools, an action which will cost the district $40,000. The Oklahoma City, Okla. school board voted 7-0 to rename schools named after Gens. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Isaac Stand Watie, reported Fox25 News. “As the district begins the input process to determine…
Read the full story
Public education must remain a high priority in Tennessee. That should be reflected in Governor Haslam’s State of the State. We have made a strong commitment in the terms of taxpayer dollars. We have simply played catch-up the last few years, especially in regards to funding our public schools. The Tennessee Constitution set forth the purpose of public education: “The state of Tennessee recognizes the inherent value of education and encourages its support. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support, and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools.” It is worth the reminder to reflect on that purpose as we enter legislative session at the Tennessee General Assembly. Living and working in Nashville, and operating a motor vehicle, it is clear that “Music City” is also “pothole city.” We have no problem with increasing the budget to spend more on improving our roads, from which we all derive the benefit. Under Governor Haslam’s proposal, we would pay an additional 7 cents per gallon on gasoline and 12 cents per gallon on diesel in Tennessee. In addition, the plan would reduce the state’s grocery sales tax rate to 4.5 percent, down a half-percentage point. Our concern is the…
Read the full story